Mason Moore | Hinckley Reporter | 21 February 2021
A BARWELL-based LGBT+ Rights Campaigner has made an appearance on national TV today (21 February) on BBC One’s ‘The Big Questions’, hosted by Nicky Campbell.
Mathew Hulbert, who is a member of the ‘True Colours’ LGBT+ events partnership in Hinckley and Bosworth, virtually made his appearance on the show via Zoom, where he advocated for the importance of representation for minority groups.
Mathew was invited back on the show once again, as he has made previous appearances on the programme.
He was joined by a number of panellists, including BBC’s former ‘Porridge’ actor, Christopher Biggins, and i newspaper journalist, Benjamin Butterworth.
One of the questions which was posed to the panellists by Nicky Campbell on the show this morning, was: “Should actors expect to play any identity?”.
This followed Channel 4’s “It’s A Sin” creator, Russell T. Davies having said he believes that it’s important for gay actors to play gay roles in TV dramas and movies, but also that he also recognises that others feel that any actor should be able to play any role, including straight actors playing gay characters.
On the programme, Mr. Hulbert said: “I’m a gay man and my answer to this would be, of course any actor should be able to play any part.
“The question is ‘should it be preferable for gay actors to play gay parts?’ and I believe it absolutely should, and it’s because of representation and actually, Nicky [Campbell] – the argument that you’ve been putting to Benjamin makes his case for him.
“The fact that you can name so many straight actors that have played gay parts shows how few opportunities there have been for gay actors to play gay roles, and representation matters.
“Unless you are LGBT+ or another minority you (might not fully) understand that.”
Speaking to the Hinckley Free Press after the show, Mr. Hulbert, said: “It was great to appear on ‘The Big Questions’ once again and to have the opportunity to set out why it’s important, where possible, to cast gay actors to play gay roles in films and TV dramas and soap operas.
“Actors often draw from their lived experience to make a character more believable and, therefore, of course gay people are going to be able to be more authentic in such roles.
“Whilst recognising that actors from a host of different backgrounds and groups want to and should be able to play a range of different roles.
“It was certainly an interesting discussion and I’ve already received lots of positive feedback.”
This marked Mathew’s second BBC appearance in February, as earlier in the month he gave an interview on BBC Radio Leicester, where he chatted with presenter Rupal Rajani, and discussed LGBT+ History Month and how he came ‘out’ as gay to his family and friends a decade ago.